The present invention relates to a musical-score-generating information processing apparatus and method, a computer program corresponding to the musical-score-generating information processing method, and a storage medium containing the computer program. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel technique for preventing unauthorized alteration and unauthorized copying of a musical score data set to be used for displaying a musical score.
Among the conventionally-known electronic musical instruments and personal computers (hereinafter also referred to as PCs) are ones which are capable of electronically displaying musical scores on the basis of sets of musical score data. Examples of the musical score data include not only data prerecorded in these instruments and PCs and data created by users using musical score creating software, but also data purchasable by being downloaded via the Internet as popularly known in recent years. With such musical score data, the users of the electronic musical instruments and PCs can cause musical scores of their desired music pieces to be visually shown on display screens of the instruments and PCs, so that they can use the displayed musical scores to practice performing the desired music pieces.
When an ensemble performance is to be executed using a plurality of musical instruments, a human player of each of the musical instruments has to purchase a same set of musical score data via the Internet or the like. However, the necessary purchasing operation is often too complicated for human players who are unaccustomed to on-line shopping through the Internet or the like and novice human players unfamiliar with music, so that the unaccustomed and novice human players tend to purchase different or wrong musical score data sets due to their operation errors or the like.
If, in view of such circumstances, a musical score data provider permits copying of a musical score data set, purchased by a particular person, so that one or more persons other than the particular person can share the copied musical score data set, it is possible that the musical score data will be leaked to an unintended third person and thus unauthorized alteration and unauthorized copying of the musical score data will result undesirably.